American Hee Journal 



and carried it to the other side of the bee- 

 yard, and that threw all the force of both 

 colonics together, as the bees I carried oS 

 would K'> and get a load of honey and cciny 

 hack to the old stand and go in at the back 

 entrance. All the colonics I worked in this 

 way stored about loo pounds of honey each, 

 and the increase will be good for next year. 

 There is a plant getting started in this country, 

 called the spid-.r-plant. From the way it is 

 recommended, and from the way the bees 

 work on it, it must be a wonderful honey- 

 plant. 



Castor beans make a fine shade for bee:*. 

 They grow 8 or lo feet high. They shed tlieir 

 leaves in the fall, so that the bees get ad- 

 vantage of the sun through the fall and wintei*. 

 Plant a hill on each side of the hive. 



Taft, Tex., Dec. 4. S. Campbki,!.. 



A Busy Pastor's Report. 



I began last spring with 2 strong colonies. 

 One of them sent out 4 swarms and the other 

 2; all of which I liived, and they gave 150 

 pounds of as fine honey as I have ever tasted. 

 So I now have 8 colonies, all in good condi- 

 tion, to go into winter t|uarters. 



Another season I hope to keep down the 

 afters warms, but this year I let them swarm 

 all they would, as I wanted the extra colonies. 

 (Rev.) H. R. Upton. 



Rapid City, S. D., Nov. 16. 



[ Sucli a report from a beginner, a busy 

 pastor, is enough to make some of the veter- 

 ans turn green with envy. A yield of 75 

 pounds per colony with 300 percent increase! 

 Next year it would make a crop of 600 pounds, 

 ending the season with 32 colonies; and the 

 year after 2400 pounds and 128 colonies. 

 Then increase would not be necessary, and 

 no telling what the crop might be. 



But our good friend need not be disappointed 

 to find this is only on paper. So good a 

 season may not come again for years. Be- 

 sides, 2 colonies in a given locality will do 

 vastly better than 100. But so good a be- 

 ginning is much to be thankful for. ^Editor.] 



Some Ignorant Farmer Bee-Keepers. 



The fall of 1907 I had 12 colonies of bees. 

 I lost one during the winter and one swarmed 

 out in early spring. That left me with 10. 



1 increased to 27 colonies, and got 1365 sec- 

 tions of honey, mostly white clover, but did 

 not get as good a price as last year. This 

 was a good year for bees, but the farmer bee- 

 keepers are the men that are breaking down 

 the prices of honey, coming into town with 

 their honey just as taken from the hive, go- 

 ing into the saloons and giving a section of 

 honey for a glass of beer, and you can not get 

 one of them to take a bee-paper. If you say 

 anything to them, they will say, "I know 

 enough. I have it in my head." So that is 

 the way it goes. 



In September, when I was requeening some 

 colonies, I gave a queen to a colony of bees, 

 and they accepted her all right, and the last 

 of November they had a flight and then super- 

 seded her. Can any one tell me why they 

 did that? 



I had 2 queens in the same hive in July. 

 A colony swarmed and in September I found 



2 as nice laying queens in the old hive as 

 any one wishes. 



I must say a word for the American Bee 

 Journal. I think it is worth $1.00 a year. 

 I would be willing to pay that just for the 

 instruction that Dr. Miller gives in his "Ques- 

 tion-Box." 



J. C. Cunningham. 



Streator, 111., Dec. 17. 



Good Year for Honey. 



All things considered, this (1908) has been 

 a good year for honey. Early in the season 

 it was too cold. Then it came off dry, but 

 when about 2 weeks of the white clover sea- 

 son was gone, the honey season opened up 

 fine. White clover covered hill and dale with 

 a complete snow-white covering, and the bees 

 just tumbled over one another to get into 

 their hives. In fact, some of them would fly 

 in through the %-inch opening, and stored as 

 fine a quality of honey as I ever saw, and 

 they capped it as white as white paper. At 

 one time I had 1 200 sections on 1 6 colonies. 

 I always put plenty of sections on so that 

 they can get their 2, 3, and even 4 section 

 supers on one hive. And as fast as they are 

 full, remove them, putting back the partly 

 filled ones, filling the super with new ones, 

 putting the partly filled ones in the middle of 

 the super. This instruction woidd seem use- 



less probably to a majority of bcc-kcepers, 

 but when we see bee-keepers in the midst of 

 a good honey -flow with only one super on, 

 and it full all but the corner sections, and 

 probably no sections nearer than the supply 

 store, why, they need instruction. 



Another reasini why we get no more honey 

 is that probably 2-3 of the bee-keepers depend 

 uiion asking their neighbors how and when to 

 put on sections, and will be much surprised 

 when they see your sections are on, and say, 

 "Why, I haven't bouglit any yet!" Every 

 bee-keeper with one colony, <»uglit to have a 

 good — no, they're all good that I ever saw — ■ 

 beepaper, and read it through. lie would 

 then he informed as to when and how. 1 

 am acc[uainted with 25 bee-keepers that I 

 could visit in one day, and none of them, 

 that I know of, takes a bee-paper. Then 

 when you see their honey in the stores, for 

 sale, you are sure they don't, else they don't 

 follow their instructions. I will give one 

 instance of one of these bee-keepers: 



Mr. A living in a little town, had some 

 bees (about 8 colonies). They would com- 

 mence swarming about the usual time. He 

 would put the swarms into small store-boxes 

 and they soon filled them, tlien swarmed 

 again. He probably cut a small hole in the 

 top of the box and put on another box on 

 top, and so on till fall. At this time he had 

 a lot of little boxes full of comb and honey, 

 but not enough to last till spring, leaving 

 them outdoors, so, when spring came, comb 

 and empty boxes were all he had. 



Menlo, Iowa. O. P. Miller. 



sec if she doesn't give uij that corner for an- 

 other. I^t her out, and it you have a good eye 

 and a "rubberneck," you may see her line for 

 home. Then find the tree if you can. 



I think if I read the American Bee Journal 

 till spring I will find out that there is still 

 something to learn about bees. 



L. W. r.RNSON. 



(irand Junction, Colo., Dec. 10. 



Hunting Bee-Trees. 



In the November number experiences with 

 bees are called for. Now that means me. I 

 am not a bee-man. The past year is the first 

 I ever kept bees, as I always gave them away. 

 But experiences. For 25 years I have been 

 interested in bees, and often intermingled too, 

 but it was always fun. I have always en- 

 joyed hunting bee-trees a great deal, but enjoy 

 finding them best, then getting the bees into 

 a modern hive 8-frame Langstroth size, made 

 by hand) then giving them to some one who, 

 1 thought, would not abuse them. 



I learned my best lessons trying to make a 

 hive, frames and all, just like a factory-made 

 one. Some of my first ones were so crooked 

 that they couldn't lie still when I would place 

 them on the ground. And the poor bees made 

 the comb straight, but crossed 2 or more of 

 the frames. 



Now about hunting bees. I can tell you 

 where you will find more wild bees to the 

 square mile than any other country on earth. 

 I am convinced, or as Dr. Miller would say, 

 "I rather think." it is in Oklahoma, in Chero- 

 kee County, where the Ozark mountains ex- 

 tend west to Grand River,, and seem unable 

 to cross. There are lots of black-j ack, oak 

 timber, hickory, walnut, pecan — in fact, all 

 the woods that grow any place else, and some 

 that don't, like persimmon, white sumac, gum, 

 and pawpaw. So, of course, you find the 

 negro and the opossum just as often as you 

 find a bee-tree. So it often happens that you 

 find a bee-tree in a 'coon tree. (A negro will 

 own the tree.) So now, "what you gwan to 

 do. Dem dar 'coons what am rested in dat 

 tree might all dun be on yo back fo yo gits 

 dot tree haf down. Better chop lite, white- 

 man." 



But if the Indian owns it, go ahead just 

 like it was your own, and no trouble thought 

 of. 



But to get to the point. How do you find 

 the bees and tree? "To do this would take 

 a book," Dr. Miller would say. Now I am 

 not complaining of Dr. Miller making short 

 answers. How plain and just he does answer 

 our ofttimes foolish questions! But after that 

 bee again. There she goes over on those newly 

 bloomed plum-trees. Take your box in the 

 left hand, go up carefully, don't jar the bushes 

 or she's gone. Now, reach out and carefully 

 take her by a wing and throw her in your 

 box. What kind of a box? A cigar-box with 

 a glass cover on top. Slide the glass shut 

 quick, and then see if your bee is in. Yes? 

 and has she found the drop of honey on the 

 bottom? If so, just set the box on a stump, 

 log, or the ground, and wait till she is full 

 and ready to start to her home. "I hardly 

 the glass and run to the side, end, or corner, 

 towards the tr^e, or her home. "I hardly 

 think so," you say. To prove this, don't go 

 to Oklahoma, don't go out 6 or 8 miles in the 

 timber; just take the box at home, go to the 

 watering-place, catch a bee, and try it out. 

 After she runs to a certain corner see how far 

 across the box she will come before she turns 

 back. Now turn the box square around, and 



The Pretty Hummer. 



What is more gentle than a wind in summer? 

 What is more soothing than the pretty hum- 

 mer 

 That stays one moment in an open flower. 

 And buzzes cheerily from bower to bower? 



— Keats. 



S. Minn, and W. Wis. Convention. 



The Southern Minnesota and Western Wis- 

 consin Bee-Keepers' Association will hold their 

 annual convention Feb. 23 and 24, 1909. in 

 the courthouse at Winona, Minn. All inter- 

 ested are cordially invited. 



O. S. Holland, Sec. 



Nebraska State Convention, 



The annual meeting of the Nebraska State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association will be held at 

 2 p.m., Wednesday, January 20, in Room 109, 

 Agricultural Hall, State Farm Campus, Lin- 

 coln, Neb. An especially good program has 

 been prepared this year, and all bee-keepers 

 should take advantage of this opportunity of 

 exchanging ideas, and receiving practical help 

 for the coming year. 



Lillian E. Trester, Sec. 



Western Honey - Producers to Meet. 



The third annual convention of the Western 

 Honey-Producers' Association will be held 

 January 20 and 21, 1 909, in the Library 

 Building at Sioux City, Iowa. It is composed 

 of bee-keepers of Iowa, Minnesota, South Da- 

 kota, Nebraska, Utah, and California. They 

 are assisting each other in a way that is 

 worth while, by their systematic advertising, 

 and marketing of honey. 



Endeavors will be made to make this one 

 of the most helpful conventions that the As- 

 sociation has held, and a sweeping invita- 

 tion is sent to all that are interested in pro- 

 gressive bee-culture to be present, and to be 

 prepared to give something of interest. To 

 those who are interested in honey as a food 

 a cordial invitation is extended to be present 

 and see the thought and energy the bee-keep- 

 ers are putting into their art to produce the 

 best honev possible. 



Mr. N. E. France, General Manager of the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Association has prom- 

 ised to be present. One of the prominent 

 features of this meeting will be an effort to 

 secure legislation that will assist in checking 

 the spread of bee-diseases in South Dakota 

 and Iowa. 



The question-box will be another prominent 

 feature, and now is the time to begin to think 

 about the things that you want to know more 

 about, and to hand them into the question- 

 I^ox. , , , 



Remember the date, January 20 and 21. 



1909- . , , 



Come, and ask your neighbors to come. 



Thomas Chantry. Pres. 

 E. G. Brown, Sec. 



Bee-Supplies in Tennessee. 



Otto Schwill & Co., 18 S. Front St., Mem- 

 phis. Tenn., have recently put in a full line 

 of the popular Lewis bee-ware. This con- 

 cern are also extensive dealers in seeds of 

 various kinds. Send to them for their free 

 catalog. Their advertisement will be found 

 on another page of this number of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, which kindly mention when 

 writing to them. 



Helps for the Poultry Industry. 



Incubators have come into common us;;?, and 

 some few makes have established their right to 

 the confidence of the public. Prominent m 

 this class stand the "Excelsior" and "Wooden 

 Hen," the former having been one of the 

 earliest of the artificial hatching machines put 

 on the market. 



Both types are built upon practical lines, 

 and have won the approval of thousands of 

 poultrymen everywhere. Tliey are made in 

 sizes varying fro.-n v-; to 600 eggs, thus adapt- 



